Electrical connectors for vehicles and the like are often comprised of separate housings that are engaged through pressure, or “snap-fit”, upon installation. Snap-fit connectors are desirable because of their ease of installation. However, in order to ensure proper installation, various complexities must be taken into account.
For example, the housings must be securely fastened so that they do not come apart after installation. Additionally, they must be properly aligned so that an electrical connection is made upon installation.
In order to attempt to resolve these and other difficulties, various mechanisms have been used. One especially desirable mechanism is a connector position assurance (CPA) mechanism. CPA mechanisms, placed externally to the housings, are used to assure locking and/or positioning of connector housings.
Use of a CPA may lead to further difficulties when designing a connector. An external CPA may increase the space required for the connector, so that a CPA may be unavailable for a connector to be mounted in a confined space. Accordingly, it would be beneficial to have a small, effectively integrated CPA mechanism for use in electrical connectors.
Multi-pin/contact electrical connectors have a number of terminals and are typically configured in a separate cavity for each terminal. An array of cavities are often closely arranged to conserve packaging space and facilitate assembly. This tends to increase complexity, part count and cost.
Standardized components, such as terminal carriers, can be employed within complex connector assemblies to reduce application specific tooling and assembly costs as well as to provide an integrated terminal position assurance (TPA) feature. It would be desirable to have sub-assemblies of such standardized components.
Current design multi-conductor electrical connectors typically allow wires, which are connected to individual contacts or terminals, to exit directly out of the back of the connector. Routing or dressing the wires, either individually or in a bundled harness form, typically requires the use of additional discrete wire position assurance devices such as tape, clips and the like.
Wire routing is particularly problematic in certain applications such as automobile environments where components are closely packed together. One solution has been the use of wire dress covers, which are formed separately and are attached to the connector assembly to control and guide the exiting wires in a particular orientation.
Although providing certain advantages, wire dress covers add complexity, part count and cost.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,837,751 granted to Mark J. Vanden Wymelenberg, et al. on 4 Jan. 2005 depicts an electrical connector including a connector body, a slide, and a pair of terminal carriers with a plurality of terminals seated in respective terminal seats of the terminal carriers.
With regard to terminal carriers, the superimposed stacking of the terminal carriers with integrated TPS, allows high density row terminal packaging. Furthermore, a large variety of cable/conductor gauges can be accommodated. The removability of the terminal carriers and the flexible arms of the TPA feature described in Vanden Wymekenberg et al. facilitates repair without damage. The TPA feature allows manual or automated plug and unplug features.
Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a compact, multi-conductor electrical connector which provides terminal position assurance and wire cover without adding to part count, manufacturing complexity and cost.